Raiders won seven straight games to take the NAIA crown for the fourth time in six years

By Holly Dillemuth, Ashland.news

As Raider-clad fans waited outside Lithia Motors Pavilion Wednesday afternoon, sirens grew closer, heralding the arrival of the NAIA champion Southern Oregon University softball team after a parade down Siskiyou Boulevard celebrating their fourth national championship in six years.

Arriving in style in a SOU public safety pickup bed and inside a Ashland Fire & Rescue engine, with each carrying a single red rose, the players were greeted with smiles and cheers from friends, family, and fans. Barry Thalden, a SOU trustee, awarded 10th year head coach Jessica Pistole the NAIA National Champion trophy, standing in for SOU President Rick Bailey.

This season marked the 10th in a row that the Raiders appeared in the Top 25 under Pistole, according to SOU Sports Information, and the team attained a top-five spot in the last eight of those. It was their seventh World Series in eight years.

“Ready for this, Beckett?” Pistole whispered to her young daughter, who had only woken up from a nap 20 minutes earlier, to join the celebration.

“We feel so loved and so supported by this community, by the university,” Pistole told those gathered. “Every part of SOU and Ashland, we feel so much pride and so much support, and we know just how much you guys invest in us, and being across the country, we know and hear of all the people watching the games and just giving us the strength and the grit to win another one, win another one, and win another one, and I just want to say thank you so much, just for your continued love.”

“We just couldn’t be more proud to represent every single one of you,” she added.

Top honors

Pistole praised her team of “10 incredibly amazing seniors” that refused to be any less than they could be this season. 

The team also boasts three players on the All-America list: ​​Ayla Davies, who ended an unprecedented freshman season as the NAIA Softball Pitcher of the Year, according to SOU Sports Information, and two senior outfielders Sarah Kerling, and Kailer Fulton, who made the second team five days after the Raiders’ 6-3 win over Oklahoma City on Thursday, May 29.

Davies, originally from Burns, Oregon, was awarded the MVP award at the World Series, where she pitched eight consecutive complete games, compiled a 1.26 ERA, threw four shutouts and set a tournament record with 71 strikeouts, according to SOU Sports Information.

The team’s collective GPA for the team is 3.57, boasted Athletic Director Matt Sayre.

“In the classroom is where it starts with this program,” Sayre said.

“And they did knock down a 3.7 Grade Point Average last term,” he added.

“We have 14 Cascade Conference NAIA or academic All-District Scholar Athletes, and these are only sophomores and above, you can’t do it if you’re a freshman; probably the only award that Ayla did not get this year,” he said, drawing laughter from the crowd.

‘Intelligence and teamwork wins championships’

SOU Trustee Chair Sheila Clough also acknowledged the team’s academic accolades alongside their athletic achievements.

“Talent wins games, but intelligence and teamwork wins championships,” Clough said, quoting former NBA basketball player Michael Jordan. “The talent throughout the year of these women won all these games, but based on that grade point average, I know there’s a ton of intelligence on this team.

“It was teamwork that got you where you are today,” Clough added. “Really lean into what that looks like, because that will serve you well in your entire life.”

All year long, Pistole noted that the team kept “pounding and fighting” to become better.

“We took our lumps and we had some hard fought challenges,” Pistole said. “I’m inspired by the way that we were able to use that and to learn from that, and I think that was incredibly evident in the run that we just made that you all watched.”

An early 3-2 loss in the NAIA World Series in Columbus, Georgia also had an impact on how they played going forward.

“Losing that 12-inning game opener to Marian … it was heartbreaking,” Pistole said. 

“We played alright, got slapped around a little bit here and there, but from that point on … we got to see what we were made of and what happens when we’re thrown in the fire and when the rubber meets the road.” 

‘One pitch at a time’

The Raiders survived seven consecutive elimination games to capture their fourth NAIA Championship trophy, a milestone in the World Series’ 44-year history, according to SOU Sports Information.

She credits the team’s championship win to their resilience, grit and sheer refusal to give up. 

“And the ability to just take things one pitch at a time,” Pistole said.

“We were never overwhelmed back there,” she added. “We never felt like it was too much.”

Pistole focused on making sure the team was up early enough to get ready for games, but also enjoying the time they had together.

“It just was such an example to me of being present and being with each other, and I just appreciate that so much,” she said. “This is a team of champions off the field.”

Pistole emphasized that the NAIA Championship trophy this season is a result of many people, on and off the field.

“This group, those wins, and this championship was every single person,” she said, including coaches.

Shortstop Sammie Pemberton, called upon by Athletic Director Matt Sayre to speak on behalf of the team, praised her teammates, coaches, and community for the victory.

“This wouldn’t have been possible without us playing like a family,” Pemberton said. “To end your career the way we did was pretty special and something that a lot of us are going to remember forever.”

The future of SOU Softball

Two Ashland Fastpitch teammates who posed for photos while holding the trophy with SOU outfielder Faith Moultrie likely won’t forget their experience, either.

Everly Carter and Emma Hill, both 10 and Bellview Elementary students, attend local SOU games. Hill has also attended softball camp at SOU, and both are fans of the team.

“I just feel like it’s really inspiring, seeing what we can do in the future,” Hill said.

When asked if either of them see themselves playing for SOU one day, both said emphatically, “Oh yeah.”

And the future of SOU softball continues to look bright for up and coming players like Carter and Hill.

Along with a fourth NAIA Championship trophy, the Raider Softball program is moving ahead with construction of a new $3 million softball complex, with $2 million already funded through private donations, according to Sayre. 

An anonymous major donor contributed $1 million towards the fundraising in 2024, with another $1 million in donations collected so far.

Sayre confirmed the project will break ground in mid-June.

“There’s still a bit of fundraising to do, so if anybody’s got a soft spot or a big checkbook, please come see me,” Sayre told those gathered on Wednesday.

Ashland.news reported in 2024 that the SOU Softball program has been playing on its field since it was redone in 2001, when the program was added to the university’s athletics.

“It’s time to give them the facility they deserve and that they’ve earned with their national performances,” he said in a previous Ashland.news story.

Reach Ashland.news staff reporter Holly Dillemuth at [email protected].